Refrigerating unit



July 28, 1925.

F. WARREN REFRIGERATING UNIT Filed Jan, 15, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jul 28,1925.

- F. WARREN REFRIGERATING UNIT Filed Jan. 15, 1924 2 sheets sheei 2 Patented July 28, 1925.

FRANK WARREN, or sA v ANTONIO, TEXAS.

BEFRIGERATING UNIT.

Application filedl'anuary 15, 1924. Serial No. 686,396.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK WARREN, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Antonio, in the county of Bexar and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerating Units, of which the following is a specificaof the water in the can ing me, and the general object tion.

This invention relates to improvements in refrigerating apparatus and more'particw larly to an improved refrigerating unit for employment in apparatus formanufacturof the. present invention is to provide a unit which will permit of the ice being formed more expeditiously and economically than by the present constructions of such units. It has been proposed to employ a refrigerating unit comprising a can, and one or more-refrigerant chambers arranged within the can and through which the "refrigerant is to be circulated in order to lower the temperature to freezing, thereby forming a block of ice within the can: which block is'to be'discharged after its formation,'-and in such units the-lower ends of the refrigerant chambers are ordinarily connected to the bottom of the can and are closed attheir said lower ends by the said bottom. It has been found, however, that unless 6X- treme care is exercised by the operatives who attend to the dislodging of the ice from the can, the refrigerant chamber or chambers is liable 'to'be sprung thereby causing a leak where thelower end of the chamber joins the bottom of the can. This leak'is naturally in a rather inaccessible location and therefore considerable time and labor is required in keeping. such refrigerating units in proper condition for operation. Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a unit so constructed that the refrigerant chamber or chambers may be removed from the can, having no permanent connection therewith, and the block of ice discharged from the can more readily than is possible in the case of refrigerating units of the usual type.

Another object of theinvention is to so construct the refrigerant chambers of the units that an opening of minimum size will be formed in the cake of ice due to the pres ence of the chambers within the can during the freezing operation, the invention, at the same time, contemplating so constructing the chambers that there will be a thoroug across the open top of the ice can 1,

circulation of the refrigerant therethrough and in such manner as to effect rapid congelation of the water within the can of the unit.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure'l is a vertical transverse sectional view through a refrigerating unit constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectiona view on the line 2-2 of Figure l looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of F igure 2 looking-in the the arrows.

In the drawings, indicated in general by'the numeral 1 and the said can comprises side walls 2, end walls 3, and a rectangular bottom wall 4:. The body 1 may take any desired form but preferably it presents a general rectangular form. The side walls '3 of the body may be inclined downwardly and inwardly to a slight degree as illustrated in Figure *1, so as to-permit of the more ready dislodgment of the blocks of'ice formed in the unit.

Therefrige-rant chambers which will presently be specifically described, are suspended from a supporting means which is indicated in generalby the numeral 5 and which comprises a flat plate or body 6 to the upper side of which, near the ends thereof, are secured cross bars 7 having downturned' ends 8, the cross bars being disposed-to extend with the downturned ends engaging-the outer-sides of the walls 2 of the said can, the plate 6 extending longitudinally of the said open top of the can as best shown in Figure 1 of the drawings.

The numeral 9 indicates pipe which at its upper end is an opening in the supporting plate 6 and has its lower discharge end, indicated by the numeral 10, terminating short of the bottom l of the said can. The upper end of the air supply pipe 9 is turned at an angle as indicated by the numeral 11 so as to permit of the attachment of an airhose (not shown) leading from any suitable source of compressed air supply, the purpose of the pipe being to provide means for agitating the water within the can during the freezing operation. I

The refrigerant chambers are indicated in general by the numeral 12 and any desired an air supply fitted through direction indicated by 7 the-icecan of the unit is 1 number of these chambers may be employed in the can, two being employed in the present instance and being arranged at opposite sides of the air conducting pipe 9. Each of the refrigerant chambers comprises a hol low relatively narrow and flat body including side walls 13 and front and rear walls 14. The body is closed at its upper end by a top 15 and at its bottom is closed as indicated by the numeral 16. A partition wall 17 is suspended within the body of the chamber from the top wall 15 thereof to a point terminating short of the bottom 16, the said partition wall extending entirely across the chamber between the walls 14. Threaded openings 18 are formed in the top 15 of the chamber and are located at opposite sides of the upper end of the partition 17. The numeral 19 indicates a pipe through which refrigerant is to be supplied to the refrig erant chambers, and this pipe is provided with downwardly extending branches 20 at its end, said branches being fitted into the openings 18 in the top of the two refrigerant chambers and at relatively adjacent sides of the said chambers. A preferably flexible supply pipe 21 is connected with the pipe 19 between its ends whereby liquid refrig erant may be supplied to the upper end of the two refrigerant chambers 12 at one side of the partition 17. Due to the provision of the partition, the refrigerant is caused to circulate through the chamber, passing downwardly through the half of the chamber into which it has been delivered, beneath the lower end of the partition 17, and thence upwardly through the length of the other half of the said chamber. Discharge pipes 22 are fitted through the plate 6 and are threaded into the openings 18 at the tops of the respective refrigerant chambers and communicate with the last mentioned halves of the said chambers, these pipes serving to conduct the refrigerant from the refrigerant chambers and discharge thesame into the tank in which the refrigerating unit as a whole is partially submerged.

From the foregoing description of the invention and taking into consideration the fact that, as shown in Figure 1, the refrigerant chambers 12 are tapered toward their lower ends, the refrigerant chambers together with their supporting means 5 may be readily withdrawn from the can 1 at the termination of the freezing operation, inasmuch as there is no permanent connec tion between these parts and the said can. Possessing but little thickness, the chambers will not leave holes or openings of any considerable size in the block of ice, and the block may be readily discharged from the can after the said refrigerant chambers and their supporting means have been removed. By thus constructing the units, there is no likelihood of injury to the walls of the refrigerant chambers and therefore no likelihood of leakage occurring under ordinary careful use of the apparatus.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A refrigerating unit for ice apparatus comprising a can in which the ice is to be formed, a supporting member removably supported upon the top of the can, spaced refrigerant chambers suspended from the said supporting member and each divided interiorly by a depending partition wall terminating short of the bottom of the chamber, a refrigerant supply pipe, branches leading therefrom and extending through the supporting member and ing through the tops of the refrigerant chambers at relatively adjacent sides of the partition walls therein, overflow pipes eX- tending through the said supporting member and opening through the tops of the chambers at the relatively remote sides of the partition walls therein, and an air supply pipe extending at its upper end through the said supporting member and supported thereby between the chambers and terminating at its lower discharge end in spaced relation to the bottom of the can.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

FRANK WARREN. [L.S.]

open- 

